The Abandoned Hamster

by Tina Nolan

  “Good boy!” Karl patted the dog’s broad head.

  Clyde wagged his tail and licked his lips.

  “Now it’s our turn,” Eva told Bonnie, who straight away leaped up and ran across the field skipping and jumping and acting crazy.

  “Mad!” Karl sighed.

  But Eva wasn’t easily beaten. “Here, Bonnie!” She held up a doggie treat.

  Bonnie recognized food from a long way off. Barking happily, she bounded back to Eva.

  “Sit!” Eva ordered as the dog screeched to a halt. Voice and arm gesture together. Be firm. Say it again. “Sit!”

  Bonnie obeyed. Click went Eva’s clicker. Then the reward. Gulp! Bonnie swallowed it down.

  “Again,” Karl said quietly.

  Eva repeated the exercise patiently and firmly. After six commands and six successes, she was happy. “Good girl!” she said, patting Bonnie. “You’re a lovely dog. Yes, you are!”

  Happy Bonnie loved the attention. She gazed up at Eva, waiting for the next command.

  “OK, let’s try ‘Stay’.” Karl decided. “‘Sit’ and ‘Stay’. If Bonnie and Clyde get that far in one session they’ll be doing well.”

  And sure enough, the young Dalmatians were smart dogs who learned easily. After half an hour of click-and-treat, Eva and Karl walked them back to Ash Tree Manor with high hopes.

  “How did it go?” Julia Platt asked them as they ushered the dogs into the utility room.

  Karl let Clyde off the lead while Eva dried Bonnie’s feet with an old towel.

  “They did really well,” Karl told Mrs Platt. “We taught ‘Sit’ and ‘Stay’. Next time we’ll try ‘Come here’.”

  “You hear that, Katie?” Mrs Platt called over her shoulder.

  As usual, Katie Platt was lurking behind the nearest large object. At her mother’s urging, she edged out from behind the door.

  “Bonnie and Clyde just had their first training session and they passed with flying colours!” her mum said.

  Katie frowned and said nothing.

  Giving Bonnie a last wipe with the towel, Eva let her go. The dog bounced off towards Katie and began to tug at the hem of her jeans. She was soon joined by Clyde and the two dogs jumped up at Katie who seemed helpless to stop them. “Down!” she ordered, but the dogs ignored her so she turned and stomped off into the house.

  “I’m worried about Katie,” Julia said as if she was thinking out loud. “She doesn’t seem to be settling into Okeham or her new school very well. I think she misses her old friends.”

  Karl nodded and blushed. There was an awkward silence.

  Meanwhile, Eva’s eyes wandered across the junk piled up in the utility room. There were cardboard boxes everywhere, and plastic garden chairs stacked in a corner. On top of the chairs there was a small, empty animal cage. “Hey!” Eva said under her breath.

  “Well, see you tomorrow,” Karl was saying to Mrs Platt.

  “Yes, and thank you for agreeing to train Bonnie and Clyde. It’s such a relief.”

  Eva double-checked the cage. It was tipped on its end, with wood shavings spilling out through the bars. And there was a metal wheel and a water bottle and everything a hamster would need.

  “Karl!” Eva ran to catch up with him out on the road. “Wait for me. Guess what I’ve just seen?”

  “I don’t know but I expect you’re going to tell me.”

  “An empty hamster cage perched on top of the garden chairs.”

  “So?” Karl asked, putting on his helmet and picking up his bike.

  “So that’s the proof we needed about Harry. He did live here with Katie Platt, and no wonder she looks so guilty all the time. She so totally is the person who dumped Harry!”

  Eva’s suspicions about Katie Platt had turned into concrete certainty.

  “Look, it’s obvious when you think about it,” she explained to Annie on the Tuesday morning. “She must’ve already decided to get rid of Harry when she came to Grandad’s garden centre with her dad. She was most likely keeping him hidden in her pocket, waiting for her chance. And when her dad was getting mad with Grandad about the fence, she happened to be standing next to the rubbish bin, so she just flipped the lid and dropped poor Harry in.”

  “But why?” Annie asked. She and Eva had been waiting in the dinner queue when Eva spotted Katie Platt standing alone at the dining hall door.

  “Hush!” Eva warned.

  “Why would Katie want rid of her hamster?” Annie whispered.

  “Maybe she was fed up with looking after him,” Eva suggested. “At Animal Magic we’re used to people getting bored and dumping their pets – it happens all the time. They’re all keen at first, then they just can’t be bothered.”

  Annie frowned. “But her mum said Katie loved animals.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Eva noticed Katie wander across the hall to join the queue and so she shushed Annie again.

  “Stand in line,” Mrs Owen told everyone, making a space for Katie behind Annie and Eva. “You’re new, aren’t you, dear? Whose class are you in?”

  “Mr Hawkes’s,” Katie mumbled.

  Just then Mary Owen spotted Eva.

  “Oh hello, Eva, I’m glad I’ve seen you,” she said in her loud, cheery voice. “I mentioned Harry the hamster to my son, Matthew.”

  Eva drew a deep breath and frowned. For once she didn’t want to talk about Harry – not with Katie listening.

  Mrs Owen chatted on regardless. “It turns out that Matthew would be keen on having a hamster for his own little boy. He’s thinking of bringing Kyle out to Animal Magic at the weekend to take a look at little Harry.”

  Eva nodded. Talk about something else!

  By now Katie was taking in every word, biting her lip and looking more unhappy.

  “What colour is Harry?” Mrs Owen asked, reaching behind Eva’s back to get a plate for Katie.

  Nightmare! Change the subject. Can’t you see – I don’t want Katie to know! But the dinner lady wasn’t picking up any of the signals. On she went.

  “And how come the poor thing ended up at the rescue centre in the first place?”

  Before Eva could clear her throat to give an answer, Annie nudged her with her elbow. “Er-hum!”

  Eva turned, in time to see tears welling up in Katie Platt’s grey eyes.

  Mrs Owen noticed too. “Oh dear!” she murmured as Katie turned and dashed out of the hall. “Was it something I said?”

  “Kyle Owen”. Karl made a note of the name. “You say he’s coming in to see Harry this weekend?”

  “I hope!” Eva told him. It was already Thursday evening and Mrs Owen had spoken to Eva again about her grandson and how keen he was to have a pet. “So keep your fingers crossed!”

  “Who are we keeping our fingers crossed about now?” Heidi had just come into Reception with a stranger – a tall, thin-faced woman with fashionable jet black hair, dressed in jeans and a red jumper.

  “Harry,” Eva answered. “We might have found the perfect owner.”

  “Matching the perfect pet with the perfect owner!” The woman obviously knew the Animal Magic motto. She smiled as she said it and her serious face was transformed. Her grey eyes shone and her lips curled to show perfect white teeth.

  “Eva, Karl, this is Jen Andrews – she’s applied for Joel’s job so she’s come to take a look around.”

  Eva’s “hello” was guarded, but Karl shook Jen’s hand. “Do you want me to show you the cattery?” he offered.

  “Yes, that sounds good,” Jen said, eagerly following Karl out of Reception.

  “Maybe you could show her round the small animals unit afterwards,” Heidi suggested to Eva. “I’ve already shown her the kennels. She seems nice.”

  “OK,” Eva agreed. But it seemed odd to be showing Jen around when Joel was still here – as if she was helping to shove him out.

  “How many small animals do you have right now?” Jen asked after Karl had done his part of the tour. She was following Eva down the row of rabbits
and guinea pigs towards the cage at the end.

  “Twenty,” Eva told her. “I like them all, but Harry is my favourite.”

  Jen stooped to look into Harry’s cage. “Yes, he’s a handsome chap,” she agreed. “Can I hold him?”

  Eva nodded. She opened the cage and scooped up Harry.

  “He’s quite perky, isn’t he?” Jen smiled as she handled him. “Does he have a regular grooming routine?”

  Eva nodded. “His nails are a bit long, though. I’m going to ask Mum or Joel to clip them.”

  “Good idea.” Inspecting Harry carefully, Jen’s smile faded a little. “Hmm, Harry’s eyes are a bit watery. Have you noticed?”

  “No. Is that bad?” Suddenly Eva was anxious.

  “Could be. Has Harry had much soft food since he came in?”

  Eva thought for a moment. “I give him apple as a treat. Does that count?”

  Jen nodded and pressed gently against the hamster’s cheeks. “Sometimes soft food gets stuck way back in the cheek pouches. It presses against the tear ducts and makes their eyes water.”

  “I didn’t know that!” Eva gasped. “Poor Harry – he’s sick and it’s all my fault!”

  “Don’t worry, it’s not serious,” said Jen. “But it makes him uncomfortable. What we need is a tiny eyedropper filled with warm water that we can drop into Harry’s mouth to flush out the pouches.”

  Eva nodded and went quickly to the storeroom to fetch the dropper. Soon Jen was holding open Harry’s mouth while Eva gently dropped in the liquid.

  “There!” With her little finger Jen eased the food out of the hamster’s cheek pouches. “That’s better, isn’t it?”

  Eva nodded and sighed. What a relief ! “How come you know so much about hamsters?” she asked.

  Smiling, Jen put Harry back in his cage. “I made a special study of small rodents when I was at college – especially illnesses to do with their mouths and teeth.”

  “Cool!” Eva watched as Harry climbed inside his wheel and began trotting round and round. “Really, Jen – thanks. Harry’s totally happy now, thanks to you!”

  “Jen Andrews gets Eva’s vote,” Heidi told Joel. It was Saturday morning and she and Joel were on the porch outside Reception talking through the applicants for Joel’s job. “In fact, since Thursday she can hardly wait to shove you out of the door!”

  “That’s not true!” Eva yelled as she set off across the yard on her bike. “I still want Joel to stay, but if we have to have someone new, I want it to be Jen!”

  “No one could ever accuse Eva of holding back her opinion!” Heidi laughed, watching her daughter follow Karl up Main Street.

  It was time for another session with Bonnie and Clyde and Eva was looking forward to it. So long as we don’t see Katie, she thought. All week at school she’d been avoiding her, and at nights when she and Karl came to do their training sessions, Eva had been glad when Katie wasn’t around.

  “Don’t you think you’re being a bit hard on the poor girl?” Eva’s grandad had asked after the Friday evening lesson. He’d been watching from his side of the fence and applauding every time Bonnie and Clyde got something right. He’d also seen Eva deliberately turn away from Katie when Julia brought her out to watch too.

  “No way!” Eva had said. “Grandad, it was Katie who dumped Harry in your bin, remember? How can I be friends with someone as cruel as that?”

  Overnight Jimmy Harrison had been thinking about what Eva had said and this morning he stopped her as she and Karl arrived at Ash Tree Manor.

  “Hello, Evie-Bee,” he greeted her. “How’s my favourite…”

  “I’m in a hurry, Grandad!” she called. “Bonnie and Clyde will be waiting for us.”

  Sure enough, the Dalmatians had heard her voice and set up a duet of excited barks and yelps from the Platt’s utility room.

  “I just need a quick word,” Jimmy said.

  Oops! Eva guessed she was in trouble. “What did I do wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he assured her, taking off his thick gardening gloves and rolling back his sleeves. “It’s not what you have done – more what you haven’t done!”

  Woof-woof ! Karl had opened the utility room door and the dogs rushed out.

  “What do you mean?” Eva asked, itching to join them in the field.

  “You haven’t made friends with Katie,” Jimmy explained. “And I think perhaps you’ve been a bit hasty.”

  “Oh!” Eva frowned. She thought she’d explained all that.

  Her grandfather pressed on. “Katie seems pretty unhappy,” he pointed out.

  Sulky – yes. Bad tempered – definitely. But unhappy?

  “Think about it,” her grandfather went on. “She’s just moved to a new house and a new school with hundreds of new people. And her mum and dad are too busy with the house to help her settle in properly. How would you feel if you were her?”

  “Grandad,” Eva protested. “You missed out one big thing – Katie Platt has been cruel to Harry, remember. She dumped him and he could have died!”

  There was a long pause while Jimmy Harrison rubbed his chin. “Perhaps,” he said quietly. “But you don’t know for definite that it was Katie, and even so, Eva, I think you should give her a second chance.”

  “Sit!” “Stay!” “Come here!” Eva and Karl ran through the commands.

  As usual, Bonnie and Clyde were A-grade students.

  “Nice work!” Jimmy called from his rows of sweet peas and roses.

  “You’d never recognize them as the same dogs!” Mike Platt praised what he saw. He’d come out of the house, dressed in paint-spattered jeans and an old T-shirt.

  “What did I tell you?” Julia Platt joined him as Karl and Eva went on with the lesson. “Come and look, Katie. See how well the dogs are doing!”

  Katie trailed out of the house to stare blankly over the garden wall into the field beyond.

  “Now we’ll do ‘Fetch!’” Eva decided, setting a stick in the grass. She told Bonnie to sit and stay.

  Bonnie fidgeted as she gazed at the tempting stick beside her. She pricked her ears, then looked up at Eva who had walked twenty steps across the field.

  “OK. Now, ‘Fetch!’” Eva called.

  Quick as a flash, Bonnie grabbed the stick and raced towards Eva.

  “Good girl!” Click-and-treat. “Clever girl. Well done.”

  That afternoon Eva made a plan with Annie to saddle Guinevere and ride down to the river.

  “We want to see if Guinevere likes to paddle,” she told Heidi, who was busy at the computer. “Some horses like water, don’t they?”

  “Yes, and some don’t,” Heidi warned. “When I was young, I had a pony who wouldn’t even go near a puddle.” She glanced up as the door to Reception opened and Julia Platt walked in with two lively customers. “Hello, what can we do for Bonnie and Clyde?” she asked with a pleasant smile.

  “We’d like you to microchip them,” Julia explained, holding the door open for Katie who trailed after her as usual. “We knew when we collected them from the other rescue centre that they would need chipping.”

  The Dalmatians pattered around the tiled floor, sniffing the disinfectant smells and poking into every corner.

  “No problem,” Heidi assured Julia. “Take a seat while I get things ready in the treatment room.”

  “OK, Mum, I’m off to find Annie!” Eva said hastily. She didn’t even glance at Katie as she left.

  But she was only halfway across the yard when she remembered Guinevere’s treat and she rushed back into Reception. “I forgot the apple for Gwinnie!” she called, making a dash for the storeroom outside the small animals unit.

  Eva delved into a cardboard box and picked out the juiciest apple. She was just heading back when she heard a movement from inside the unit. Better check that everything’s OK, she thought, and pushed open the door.

  Katie Platt had sneaked in and was tiptoeing down the row of cages, gazing in at Hugo, Honey and Emily, Lulu and Lucy and the rest. When
she came to Harry’s cage, she crouched down low.

  Eva watched in amazement. How can she face him after what she did to him?

  Katie did nothing except stare at cuddly, easy-going Harry. The hamster poked his pink nose through the bars of his cage and twitched his whiskers.

  “Ahhh!” Katie said softly.

  Then Heidi and Julia came to find her.

  “Eva, I thought you’d gone riding,” Heidi said, squeezing past.

  “I am – I forgot Gwinnie’s apple!” Eva gabbled.

  “Ah, Katie, there you are.” Julia spied her daughter by Harry’s cage. Her smile faded. “Time to go,” she said sadly.

  Katie’s lip trembled and she put her hand up to the bars of Harry’s cage. “Bye!” she whispered, following her mum back into Reception.

  That evening Eva was serious and silent.

  “What’s up? You haven’t said a word for at least five minutes. Are you sick?” Karl asked after dinner.

  “Yes, sick of you asking stupid questions,” Eva grumbled. Annie had said the same thing out on the ride – was Eva OK? Had something bad happened at Animal Magic?

  “No, everything’s cool,” Eva had told her.

  But she couldn’t work it out. Why had Katie Platt snuck in to see Harry?

  And why had she looked as if she was about to cry?

  I get it! she thought suddenly as she put on her pyjamas and brushed her teeth. Katie abandoned Harry and now she’s feeling guilty! She had to make sure it was him and that he was OK. But now she’s feeling really bad!

  Mystery solved. Eva went to bed feeling clearer. At least Katie Platt wasn’t a total monster after all.

  Eva got up next morning full of energy, with high hopes that the sunny Sunday would bring in lots of people wanting to adopt pets.

  “I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a good day!” she told Karl, who was updating the website. “I bet we find homes for at least five of our animals.”

  “That would be an amazing day,” Karl muttered. “In fact, you’d probably need to wave a magic wand to get five in one day.”